FREE AT LAST

I'm gone from BACS, in case you hadn't heard. I accepted the position at KTVT this morning. When I gave two weeks' notice, I was informed that due to a no-compete policy, I had to leave BACS today. I still get paid through the 29th.

It makes sense, really. They don't want me to have my hands in commercials and revenue-related stuff when my alliance now lies with another station.

Nevermind the fact that I'll be working for a DFW station but through BACS actually worked for a Tucson station.

I'm not arguing.

***

Random snippets from when I gave notice:

Angela said, "Are you leaving today?"

Me: "No, in two weeks." (Little did I know)

Angela: "We weren't about to fire you or anything."

Me: "Um... okay."

***

They asked me several times and ways just WHY I was leaving. I stuck to my guns, took the high road, all those other uppity euphemisms. Word travels fast among broadcasters in this town, and in fact, I didn't want to appear to be unprofessional to my future employers with a big scene at BACS.

***

But after I gave notice BACS made it clear that they were fully aware I'd had the interview. Yes, broadcasters around here are a tight-knit bunch.

***

So they took my ID badges and rail pass. I had a pair of IDs, one on which I was pictured with a beard and one without. And the boss started looking at them and going on and on about how good I look with a beard. And it was a really strange moment.

I had no cash, and needed some to buy a ticket on the train home. I hit an ATM machine across the street, but I missed the train. Three years there and I finally missed a train on my last day.

Clutching a $20 bill on the Union Station train platform, even if just long enough to buy a rail ticket, is never a good idea. All manner of homeless guys and weirdos will avail themselves to you. I knew this, and when the first one approached me I brushed him off with a no thanks and took the long way around to another machine.

But no good. I thought he'd attached himself to some other poor saps, but he managed a beeline right back to me, just as I collected my ticket and my change.

By the way, if you put a $20 bill in a ticket machine, you get your $17.75 change in crappy dollar coins.

I dismissed the hobo with a pair of them.

I will NOT miss downtown Dallas, let me tell you.

***

Why the hell aren't there any cops at Union Station anyway? The place is crawling with all sorts of ne'er-do-wells. I watched a guy today who might have been a psychiatric patient from the VA hospital, pulling up his shirt to expose his huge gut while bellowing out spirituals to his hapless benchmate.

***

So now I've got a paid vacation, basically. Might take THEBOY to a ballgame tomorrow. I'll tackle some long-overdue projects around the house, maybe take a little trip somewhere...

***

I feel positively weird though. I was dizzy the whole way home, overflowing with nervous energy. The train passenger guy who likes me was there, and I was pouring my guts out to him.

But I am OUT OF THAT TERRIBLE PLACE. There may come a time when I bitch a bit, but for now... I think I'll go to bed.